Woodturning is an art form and industrial process that requires the use of various cutting tools to shape wood mounted and rotating on an axis. Segmented woodturning involves using segments of wood assembled in a manner that allows the construction of various objects, e.g. bowls, vases, urns, spindles, and platters. For segmented woodturning, each segment is generally formed into a triangular or trapezoidal prism with multiple prisms then being assembled together to construct turning blanks shaped as polygonal prisms with n sides. Turning rings may further include a central hole having n sides. A plurality of turning blanks and/or rings may then be coupled together to form a joined turning blank, with multiple joined turning blanks stacked upon and coupled to one another to form an object blank from which is turned the desired object.
To successfully turn a segmented object, a number of technical challenges involved in the process must be addressed. Initially, designing an object requires precise calculations to determine the diameter at many different locations along the central turning axis along with precise geometry of the segments that will construct the individual rings so that there are no gaps where the segments mate. Designing an object also requires precise calculations for the thickness of each ring that will be a component in the final piece. Even potentially more challenging is fabricating the multiple individual segments which will be joined together. Fabrication may require using various machines, with each machine calibrated with very small tolerances for error. Poorly calibrated or improperly set up equipment may lead to unwanted gaps between mated segments. In view of these above difficulties, current solutions and procedures focus on the design of rings to construct only one specific object.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for turning segmented objects whereby an assembly includes segments which have been precisely designed and fabricated. Moreover, the dimensions of the block segments may also allow these segments to form blanks which may be used in the construction of several different objects wherein each blank may be turned over a wide range of internal and external diameters. The present invention addresses these, as well as other, needs.